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I Became A Zombie Chapter 10

Chapter 10: Destined Encounter

「Uh… hmm… where am I? Ah, yes. I ate the dungeon core and slept.」

I woke up and stretched my body. Slightly sharp nails protrude from my long white fingers.

「It wasn’t a dream. Even in my dreams I saw Zombie-senpai giving me a thumbs up with a smile.」

「So you’re finally awake, sleepyhead.」

「Ars? How long have I been asleep?」

「For about three days. How did you feel? It was comfortable, wasn’t it?」

「Yeah, this place feels strangely safe. Did you make this room, Ars?」

「That’s right. I made a small room next to the core room. You can take naps easily from now on, Master. Thanks to that, our dungeon point is now zero.」

「I see. Thanks. And don’t call me “Master”, it feels creepy. Just call me Aun.」

「Understood! So Aun, you’re planning to go to another dungeon?」

「Yeah. Rather, how do you feel about me going to another dungeon, Ars? Is that… okay with you?」

「It’s not really a problem. If you destroy the dungeon core, another dungeon will simply be created elsewhere, and if you eat it like you did with me, that dungeon will also be mastered by you.」

「I see. Then there’s no problem! Alright, I’ll head there right away. If something happens, I can contact you through telepathy, right. Also, when heading back, I’ll use the Labyrinth Return.」

「Sounds good to me. The teleportation magic circle to exit the dungeon has been made in the core room, so you can use that. Take care and be careful.」

「Sure!」

A magic circle connected to the outside gleamed at a corner of the core room. With a slight gesture of my hand, my surroundings suddenly darkened and I was transported to the bank of a river in the Forest of Eternal Darkness.

There was no magic circle at the transfer destination. The exit seems to be one-way only.

「Is this river… close to where I was washed away? The way outside this forest is… that way. I’ll put on my hood, just in case I run into another person. Let’s go to the Green Plains!」

Ignoring all the monsters in the forest, I arrived at Green Plains in a few minutes by sprinting.

「I suppose it wouldn’t hurt to hunt monsters from this point on.」

While walking straight in the direction of the dungeon entrance, I killed one-horned rabbits and goblins on the way.

「Hmm? Is that a flock of gray wolves? And they are hunting a… fox beast?」

A wounded fox beast was surrounded by six gray wolves. However, the fox did not give up and desperately fought for its life.

「For a small beast, it has got quite the guts. It’s fighting back against several higher rank monsters… How intriguing!」

I activated Nimble skill and instantly moved to stand between the gray wolves and the fox.

「Yo, do you need help?」

『Kyuun…』

The fox looked surprised, but it seems to know that I’m not an enemy. This fox is smart.

I turned around and set my sights on the flock of gray wolves.

「Sorry for interrupting your hunt. I’ll let you go if you don’t attack me… What do you say?」

『Gurururu……』『Von! Von!』

The gray wolves charged at me all at once, but their movements were slow. I took out Red Ogre’s Iron Club from my magic bag and swung it sideways.

…It was an instant kill.

Even unarmed, there was a clear difference in power, but I thought of trying out the power of a Red-weapon as well. To be honest… I held back my strength.

「It’s already this destructive even without using the Strong Arm skill. This weapon’s attack power is more dangerous than I expected… Huh?」

『Kyuun』

When I looked down, I saw the fox beast pressing its head against my leg delightedly.

Looking closer, I can see that it has two tails.

「How rare! You have two tails. Ah, right, I have a recovery potion in the magic bag!」

As I sprinkled the potion on the fox beast, its wound started to heal. The bloodstains on its body were also washed away, and its hair reflected a thin gold glow.

It looked so cute when it started shaking off the droplets from its fur…

「Seems like you’re the only fox around here. Would you like to come with me? …Come join me.」

The two-tailed fox nodded and cried “Kon!”. In response, my body glowed slightly, feeling like a connection was established between us.

「Oh, I feel like we’re connected somehow. This is my first time so I’m not too sure, but it looks like it worked. Nice to meet you! What’s your name?」

『Kin…』

「You don’t have one? Then you’re… Kinu! I’ve heard that there’s a cloth as beautiful as the color of your fur in Grandpa’s hometown. It also sounds similar to your cry. You like it?」

『Kon!』

「Okay then, Kinu, let’s go! Let’s start by raising your level!」

For a while after that, Kinu defeated One-Horned Rabbits, Goblins, and Middle Rat in Green Plain. Kinu was stronger than I thought. If the gray wolves didn’t have the numbers advantage, she might have been able to defeat them.

Her body started trembling. Probably because her level had risen. Is she evolving already?

「I’ll be keeping watch, so you’ll be fine. Relax and get some rest.」

As Kinu slowly closed her eyes, her body changed little by little. Until a little while ago, she was about the same size as a one-horned rabbit, but she grew bigger little by little, and was about the size of a gray wolf now. Her tails increased to three and her fur color was a little darker in gold.

『Koon!』

「It looks like you’ve evolved safely! Can you move, Kinu?」

Kinu stood up and nodded.

「Okay, then let’s head to our destination while continuing to level up!」

From there on, the speed at which Kinu exterminated monsters increased dramatically. She even started using magic!

A translucent sphere as big as my head formed in the air and was launched at the monsters. The monsters hit with it stop moving. Battle over.

Eh? So strong? That’s unfair… I wanna use magic too. When I was a human, I could use magic to produce a little bit of water, but now, I can’t even pull that off.

As I looked at Kinu enviously, she cried “Kon!” to me delightedly.……Damn, she’s so cute

After that, as we one-sidedly exterminated the monsters, a horse cart approached from the front. It looked like a peddler’s cart.

「Good day. I was watching you from afar. You’re strong! Are you a Tamer? Ah, pardon me for not introducing myself first. My name is Barbaru, I’m a peddler.」

A male beastfolk got off the horse and greeted me. He had fluffy animal ears on the side of his head. Judging from his physical characteristics… I wonder what race he is?

「Ah, are you curious about my race? I’m a red panda beastman. Or rather, you don’t seem too surprised.」

「Sorry… I didn’t mean to stare. I’ve met beastfolk before, so I’m not surprised. So how can I help you?」

「That’s a good guess! Actually, I’d like to purchase the meat of the one-horned rabbit that you defeated earlier.」

「Meat? Not the fur or horns?」

「Oh, let me explain about that. My hometown is the Nyahar Village located southeast of here. This year, however, strong monsters have begun to appear around the village, so we were not able to hunt as much. Due to that, there is a shortage of food. So I am trying to carry back as much food as possible… I will buy the meat at a slightly higher price than the market price. What do you say?」

「I see, if that’s the case, I’ll give it to you for free. In return, you help me out when I’m in trouble.」

「Oh… what a kind person you are!! I promise I shall! May I ask your name?」

「I’m Aun. Nice to meet you!」

『Hauun!』

Kinu was trying to say “Aun”. Come to think of it, I forgot to tell Kinu my name… sorry. But it seems Kinu can somehow understand what we’re talking about, after all. She’s really smart and cute. I just wanna pet her…

「Aun-sama. Thank you very much! I will never forget this kindness and promise!」

「Just call me Aun. Shall I load the one-horned rabbits into the cart?」

「Ah, yes please! Also, I can’t address you so casually. Is it okay if I call you Aun-san?」

「Yeah. That’s okay…」

While saying so, I took out 15 one-horned rabbits from my magic bag.

Barbaru was surprised, but it was probably due to the capacity of the magic bag. I told him to keep it a secret, and he started nodding hurriedly.

「Thank you very much! See you soon! Take care on your way, Aun-san!」

「See you!」

After saying goodbye, Barbaru got on his horse and rode away.

「Well then, we should get going too!」

『Kon!』

An individual and an animal proceeded across the plains while trampling down monsters.

Status

【Name】Doumeki Aun

【Race】Kijin

【Condition】-

【Level】28

【HP】1000/1000

【MP】610/610

【STR】47

【VIT】20

【DEX】10

【INT】61

【AGI】74

【LUK】35

【Title】Labyrinth Ruler

【Skill】

・Iron Stomach

・Pain tolerance

・Martial Arts (Lv.2)

・Gluttony

・Strong arm

・Nimble

・Appraisal

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Equipment

・Red Ogre’s Iron Club

・Labyrinth Explorer’s Shirt

・Black Bison Leather Pants

・Assassin’s Cloak

・Dark Combat Boots

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